(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to techniques for attaching a design cover to an outer surface of a casing of an electronic apparatus.
(2) Description of related art
Hitherto, a technique has been known that covers an outer surface of an electronic apparatus with a design cover when an outer appearance of the electronic apparatus is finalized. For example, according to a technique disclosed in JP-A-11-236067, in order to decrease the number of assembly steps, hook portions provided on both side surfaces of a top surface cover are engaged with engagement holes provided on both side surfaces of a base chassis in correspondence to the hook portions by sliding the top surface cover from the rear side. To the contrary, for example, according to a technique disclosed in JP-A-8-046366, hook portions are provided on both side surfaces of a base chassis, and engagement holes are provided on both side surfaces of a top surface cover so as to correspond to the hook portions. Moreover, according to a technique disclosed in JP-A-9-091539, for better outer appearance, at least a top surface and both side surfaces, for example, of a metallic box-like casing of an electronic apparatus are covered with design covers (also referred to as decorative plates or decorative covers).
In the case where at least the top surface and both side surfaces of the box-like casing of an electronic apparatus are covered with design covers (outer frame decorative plates) similar to the conventional techniques, when the design covers are manufactured by integral molding, the die size becomes large and thus increases the die cost. Moreover, when the shape of the design covers becomes complicated, the molding conditions become complicated and there is a concern that shrinkage or the like may occur easily.
In lieu of such an integral-molded design cover, when the design cover is configured by a plurality of decorative plates covering a top surface, a left side surface, and a right side surface, respectively, since the number of decorative plates increases, the number of assembly steps of attaching them to the box-like casing, for example, by means of screws or the like increases accordingly. Moreover, the screws are exposed to the outside, and thus, the outer appearance is degraded.
Moreover, in the conventional techniques, there is no disclosure of a design cover structure for improving the overall aesthetic appearance of the electronic apparatus considering both a transverse installation of the electronic apparatus (in which the largest surface such as the bottom surface of the electronic apparatus is used as the installation surface) and a vertical installation (in which a side surface or the like other than the bottom surface of the electronic apparatus is used as the installation surface).
Furthermore, in order to decrease the cost of replacing the design cover, it would be desirable to individually replace the respective decorative plates of the top surface or the side surfaces. However, none of the conventional techniques teaches a structure capable of individually replacing the respective decorative plates.